Disclaimer: I still don't own anything that has to do with the anime/manga
Warnings: This chapter is longer than the ones in the past and starting to connect with the last arc of the story. This chapter also contains blood/violence, coarse language, references to sex/rape, incest, yaoi, slight yuri (if you want to look at Ino and Sakura that way), OOC, and the canon is gone. There are also multiple errors in here that I didn't pick up (I got lazy).
Pairings: ItaSasu, slight ShikaIno, some SasuSaku, slight KabuSaku, traces of InoSaku
Pain, he could feel it deep in his chest as he looked around the room the sun shining through the window. It was a rarity to see the sun these days, the dark clouds that wept for the loss of Team 7 always seemed to have control over the heavens. This was different; the pain that was in his chest was accompanied by the rays of the sun. If there was a God, he hated Sasuke with an undying passion.
He moved through the sheets hearing the rustling of them underneath his body. There was something wrong. He remembered last night; he remembered the pleasure that had run through his body. He remembered falling asleep. He remembered having Itachi right next to him.
"Itachi?" he asked, sitting up in bed looking around for his brother. "Itachi? Where are you?" he took a deep breath as he continued to look right and left. He wouldn't leave him alone; he promised that he wouldn't leave. Did Kabuto and Sakura come back to get him?
"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled, his voice shaking with worry.
"Calm down," a voice said from the doorway. "God, Sasuke, I leave you alone for a moment and already you think I've done something stupid," he sighed. "You don't even trust me to go off on my own do you?"
Sasuke turned his vision to the doorway to see his brother standing right there looking straight at him. What he saw was different than any Itachi that he had ever seen. The clothes that he was wearing were different than they were last night, it was shocking. Everything truly Akatsuki about him was gone in a single night, save the ring that rested on his ring finger.
The purple nail polish that had been on his nails this whole time was wiped away completely, not a trace of the color to be found. The main color of his outfit stayed the same, he had always favored the color black. He kept his shirt, yet his pants had been replaced with black ones that resembled the ones that he had been wearing. The necklace that Sasuke had fallen in love with was still around his neck, the center of his attention.
His sword was still on his back, the sheath wrapped around his body, the holsters for his sai still acting as a belt. Everything weapon wise was the same as Sasuke had known, yet there was one thing on his body that had shown an almost contradicting factor. On the back of the shirt that Itachi had ever been wearing even under the old Akatsuki robe, he could see as he leaned up against the doorframe. There was the slight sight of red and white: the Uchiha crest.
"Itachi?" Sasuke smiled as he watched his brother walk closer. "You've changed your look again," he glanced at him from head to foot. "Your outfit is so… black," he moved to snuggle against the pillows again.
Itachi took a step forward with a smile on his face. "Did you have a good night's sleep?" he continued to walk until he was looking over him in the bed. "Or did you have another rough night?"
"My night was fine," Sasuke purred as he pulled the sweaty sheets closer, moving against to the pillows. "I slept the best night of my life last night," he sighed reaching to grasp Itachi's hand. "Would have been better if you stayed…"
"I can't sleep," Itachi answered lightly as he stroked the hand lightly. "But I didn't want to wake you up because we have a lot of training to do today. What kind of ninjutsu do you want to do today? Medical or elemental?"
Sasuke took a deep breath as he shook his head. "What time is it?"
"Eleven," Itachi answered quickly. "I thought that you needed sleep, so I let you sleep until you naturally woke up," he smiled lightly. "I was even kind enough to bring you breakfast," he pulled out a single red apple handing it to him. "You're no good if you're hungry."
Sasuke took the apple. "Thanks," he answered quietly as he looked out the window and then at his brother. "So you're serious about wearing that crest on your back, aren't you?"
Itachi nodded. "You showed me in the woods that we're in this together, and until we get out of this we're going to have to stick together," he looked down at Sasuke who was starting at the apple. "Are you alright?"
The young boy nodded shakily. "Yeah," he brought the apple to his lips. "I'm fine, no need worrying about me."
As he took the first bite of the apple he looked at his brother's new look, this whole time he had been sewing, a skill that Sasuke had giggled at when he was young. Itachi was everything that a person could want in a son; he was skilled in almost everything. The look of the new clothes only added to that, he had reattached to something that Sasuke thought that he was never going to acknowledge again.
"I can feel it, Sasuke," Itachi smiled as he took a deep breath. "We're going to make progress today, we're going to get a step closer to our goal in no time," he looked over at his younger brother. "I take it you'd want to work on medical ninjutsu," he grasped his side. "I can only heal it so much without hurting myself, Sasuke. If you really want to heal it, you're going to have to work as hard as you possibly can…"
Sasuke took a deep breath as he looked down at the apple. "Are you going to help me? I mean you did save me of death. You know the way the technique works; you know the way to fix something. I want to learn that from you. I don't care how many hours I work as long as you're going to be alright, Itachi."
"What kind of instructor would I be if I let my student do all of the work himself?" he smiled lightly as he looked out the window again. "I have to get you to be top notch before I take you to face them again. Besides, Konoha needs more ninja like you, more people to fully understand the art. You've grasped it, Sasuke; you have the potential to surpass that sensei of yours."
"Can I surpass you?" Sasuke asked taking a bite of the apple.
Itachi snickered lightly as he closed his eyes. "One step at a time, little brother, one step at a time," he stood up starting to walk toward the door. "Maybe sometime in the future you can match me, but the chances are slim. Well, maybe if you work hard you can get better than me. After all, isn't that what all big brothers want for their younger siblings?"
Sasuke smiled as he looked up at him. "By the way, Itachi," he turned to look back at him. "Could you get my clothes on your way out?"
Itachi sighed. "What am I going to do with you Sasuke?" he tossed Sasuke his pants. "Get dressed and meet me in the main room. Maybe we can get more than one aspect done today…"
The younger ninja watched as his brother walked away watching the crest on his back as he did so. After all of this time, you aren't as far away as I thought you were. You were always right next to me…
He took the last bite of his apple as he started to get dressed. The sky outside was showing him that there was a future for the team. Even if he was the one who was going to save all of them. Sakura wasn't going to go to the Sound Village; he wasn't going to hurt Naruto like that…
-----
Her fist hit the tree, her other hand holding various senbon. Have to keep balance, show Kabuto that I'm stronger than Sasuke ever was. If I'm going to be allowed in the Sound Village then I have to prove my worth.
She continued to hit at the tree watching the bark start to come off of it. This is easy, I have to focus chakra into my hand and then release it. This will increase speed, power, and accuracy. She hit the tree again. Even though it won't increase my strength insanely, it will still do as much damage to Itachi that Sasuke was bragging about.
Everything that she had in her was going into the tree, all of the pain that her old team had put her through. Sasuke, Naruto, even her sensei were all her energy for working harder, for impressing Kabuto, her new sensei. He was the only one who she could trust now, the only one who saw her strength. He was the only sense of protection she needed.
"When we get out of this, I'm not going to save you; I'm going to destroy you. You're going to die for what you've done to me."
Itachi had threatened to kill her, a threat that she knew he was going to uphold. She could tell by the way he looked over at her. Throughout the time she had been with him, Itachi always seemed like he cared about her, thinking that she had potential. Yet in the end he turned on her, just as he was going to turn on Sasuke.
"I don't want him to forgive me; I don't even want him to acknowledge me. If I walk through life alone then so be it. It's best that I'm alone."
She could already see the boy that she was falling in love with slip away from her. Sasuke was stuck in a web that she wasn't sure he could get out of. There was only a minimal amount of time before she knew he was going to be in too deep to be saved from himself. As she sat here slacking there was a world going on out there, a world that Sasuke was getting stuck in.
"He's a part of me; he's the reason why I live. Isn't that what love is, the person that you can't live without, the person where if they ever died they would end your life forever?"
Sakura closed her eyes as she threw the senbon, letting out a low cry as she fell to her knees. "Damn it!" she pushed her fist to the ground not looking at Kabuto who was behind her. No matter what I do, I'm just in the way; I'm always in the way…
She closed her eyes tightly she thought of all that she had done to make this all become true. All of the pain that those who were close to her were going through because of what was happening in Konoha. Kakashi, Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, all of them were in pain right now and it was all due to Itachi and Kabuto's infiltration. If she ever saw any of them again, she wasn't sure if she was going to be able to face them. She wasn't the same girl as she was before. She was different.
"I know that if you do something stupid, I'm not going to allow it to ruin my life, nor am I even going to let you get that far Use your head, swallow your pride and come here and take the damn forehead protector!"
Ino had tried to stop her. She was the only one there that night that would have stopped her, and it was working until Kabuto showed up. Watching as Kabuto beat her best friend up wrenched at her heart. This was what she wanted; this was the path that she had to take to save her friends from the darkness, even if she had to get a taste herself. This was the only way.
"I'm the nine-tails; I'm nothing more to anyone else but that monster. I thought that maybe Sasuke would understand and to my surprise he does. He's trying to protect me from that dark fate, and I respect him for that, but… I can't live like this Sakura."
She closed her eyes remembering the pain that Naruto was going through. He was the reason why she was here in the first place. Every senbon that she threw was for his own safety, every time she drew Uchiha blood, it was all for him. She had to think realistically, even though Naruto was nothing more than annoying, throughout the whole adventure he tried to be by her side. She pushed him away. Now she was going to pull him closer.
Getting off of her feet she pulled out a kunai, attacking the tree watching Kabuto through the corner of her eye. He was smiling at her again looking at her deeply. He had taken an interest that she thought only Kakashi had taken in her when he used to tell her what she was good accompanied with a pat on the head. Kabuto was different though, there was no one else to give praise to. She was his only disciple.
"Sakura," Kabuto sighed as he walked closer. "Okay, I think you're ready to fight some actual people," he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I want you to turn around and attack me…" he smiled gently. "Trust me; Itachi isn't going to be like a tree, he's going to be moving if he sees you coming at him…"
She looked over her shoulder. "And if I hurt you."
"If you hurt me, then I know you have no problem with Sasuke," he pulled out a kunai. "No come on, Sakura. I'm not going to get mad if you hurt me…" he chuckled almost silently. "We need to work on your taijutsu; all genjutsu isn't going to work on Itachi Uchiha, not if he activates his mangekyou sharingan."
"And if he tries to use that technique that he took my sensei out with?" Sakura asked. "What do I do then?"
Kabuto shook his head. "Don't let him. Try to wear his chakra down so he can't do anything of that level. I must tell you, his chakra control is flawless," he took a deep breath. "But then again, you've potential to be a strong ninja; you too have excellent chakra control."
"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked looking into Kabuto's eyes. "Next time I meet him, what will he be like? Will he be that much stronger? Will I be able to truly take him out? Or will he be like that brother of his?"
"He could be like Itachi," Kabuto sighed. "Itachi is in charge of his training. We're going to see water techniques, stronger fire techniques, medical ninjutsu, higher speeds, and weapon techniques. There's a lot that he could teach him, and I have no doubt that he is going to perfect most of those deadly techniques. Itachi was never a person who goes into a battle thinking to spare his opponent; he only spares the ones who aren't worthy enough to die by his hand…"
Sakura looked at the ground. "Am I worthy?"
"He put a threat on your life," Kabuto answered in a low whisper. "If worst comes to worst I'm going to have to let Sasuke crash and burn and take you and Naruto to the Sound Village. Itachi wants to kill him… Sasuke's life will not be harmed. Sasuke still has his uses. As long as he's useful to Itachi he's not going to kill him…"
Sakura tightened her grip on the kunai as she looked at Kabuto. "So come on, if you're going to train me, I want you to be more like Itachi," she took a step forward focusing her chakra into the weapon. "Run away if you want to live!"
She ran toward Kabuto, throwing the kunai at him, watching as he dodged the blow. Everything had to be perfect if she was stuck with either of them. Especially Sasuke, she knew that Itachi would kill her almost instantly, toying with her mentally. The younger Uchiha on the other hand would never let that happen, he would toy with her to no end, she wasn't even sure if she could hurt the one that she loved. She still loved him after all of this time.
"Sakura, forget all of our past experiences. Forget the way that I treated you. It was all a lie; I was never able to say all of my feelings for you. I was always afraid that he was going to take you away from me. He took everything else."
She closed her eyes as she thought of him. Sasuke did like her if only just a little. She could tell by the way that he screamed at her to stop when she was running toward Itachi. He knew that if she got too close Itachi would destroy her. That's why he threw himself in front of the attack. The Sasuke that she loved was still in there.
"I'm going to save you, even if I have to give up my life," Sakura whispered as she pulled out another kunai scanning the area for Kabuto.
-----
"Come on," Sasuke breathed, pushing more chakra into his hands taking deep breaths. He looked at the cut that he had made on his leg, the bloodied dagger discarded to the side. "I can almost do this…"
Itachi sighed from the corner. "Sasuke, if you only focus on the pain you'll never get anything done. For the technique to work you have to keep a clear mind, otherwise you're only going to hurt yourself. Mystical Palms cannot only repair tissue; it could also destroy it as well…"
Sasuke closed his eyes tightly. I have to live up to my promise. I'm still thinking about it. If I kill Itachi, is that going to resolve anything? I mean he wanted it all along. With this technique I could make it so he would never be able to die because of me. If I wasn't strong enough to destroy his life, then I'm not going to let anyone else do it for me.
He tried harder feeling the flesh start to form back together a little. It hurt to do this jutsu; he could feel his body getting weaker every time he tried to do this technique. He felt as though he should give up right there, but he couldn't.
Sakura was still out there. She was under Kabuto's wing, on her way to the Sound Village where that old man lived. Sasuke cringed at the thought of that man, what kind of sick man wants to take over the body of a twelve-year-old? Besides, all the old man had to offer was power. Why would he seek him for power when he couldn't even beat Itachi himself?
"Sasuke," Itachi started as he looked at the glow. "Something's on your mind."
"I have a lot of things on my mind," the younger boy answered as he looked at the wound on his leg. "We only have a minimal amount of time before they try to take Naruto, don't we? That means that we're going to have to work twice as hard."
"Sasuke," Itachi started. "They're the underdogs, we have more experience then them. You have me, Sasuke, and I was part of the Akatsuki, one of their prized members to be honest. If I could take them out, then I would be able to take that weakling Orochimaru and his lackey Kabuto out no problem at all," he looked down at his struggling younger brother. "As for you, I think that you can take them out, you're with me…" he leaned against the wall with a sigh. "And as long as we're together we're untouchable."
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke felt the wound close more. He had to master this jutsu as fast as he could, even if he would never be able to sleep again. Itachi was going to breathe again. He wasn't going to be in that pain anymore, not until Sasuke was ready to lose him. Then again, would he ever be ready? Itachi was his life, without him, what would be his purpose of living?
Everything revolved around his brother. Everything that he did was always for him, even if Sasuke hated to admit it. Even now when he thought his life couldn't get much worse, he turned to him of all people for comfort. On that path he only found that he was the one who was able to break him open and show everyone what his brother was really like, the Itachi that he had created when they were younger, that was the real Itachi. The other one was nothing but a front to prove that their cousin was wrong about him. That was nothing but to measure his capacity, how far he could go. Sasuke wasn't one of those people who had to fall, and it made him glad that he was spared, no matter how disgusting that was.
The wound closed, Sasuke's eyes widened. "Holy shit…" he let a smile roll across his face as he looked up at his brother. "I did it!"
Itachi shook his head, his eyes full of disbelief. In less than a week, he was able to perform a technique that it took me forever to do. Maybe Sasuke's a natural for medical ninjutsu? He smiled back. "That's amazing, Sasuke. You were able to close a wound. But you still need more time on it until you are able to heal more complex injuries," he grasped the side of his chest where he was hit. "Vital organs are different than a cut on your leg, no matter how deep it is."
Sasuke sighed. "I know I still have a long way to go," he looked up at him. "If I want to amount to anything in the life of a ninja."
Itachi sighed as he stood up. "Well do you want to continue your work on medical ninjutsu or do you want to learn how to improve the attacks that you already know?"
Sasuke looked over at him. "I want you to do everything in your power to help me save my friends. I know you don't make it a habit of doing other people's requests, but please, as my older brother, I want you to help me become stronger," he sighed. "You promised me when I was eight that you would show me some new techniques."
Itachi snickered. "I'm amazed that you still remember that," he looked back at Sasuke. "Come with me," he beckoned for him. "There is on element that you haven't learned that I think it's about time you did…"
The younger brother stood up watching him summon him. "I'm not going to let you poke me on the forehead," he walked past him through the door. "I'm not that much of an idiot…"
As he walked by Itachi shrugged. "I guess he really has grown since then," he turned to follow him. It seemed like only yesterday I was in this house, this house that I once called home. With our parents, he winced thinking of them; his body was sore as he focused on the thoughts of their father. If he could call that man a father. I never had a father, I never had a family. All I had was Sasuke; he was the only one who mattered. He's the only one who lived.
He watched as Sasuke waited at the door. "Where are we going to go now, Itachi? And what exactly are you going to teach me?"
"It's a surprise," Itachi answered flatly.
A scoff was heard as he finished saying that. "I don't like the surprises that you give me, Itachi. I don't like surprises in general, why don't you stop being a prick and tell me what we're doing."
"You went to the Land of Waves right?" Itachi asked looking back at him watching Sasuke nod gently his eyes darting away from him. "No doubt you ran into some Mist Ninja, right? These are the techniques that they are known for: water techniques. Did you copy any?"
Sasuke shook his head. "That was the mission when I first activated my sharingan. I was knocked out for most of the battle after that," he looked into his brother's eyes. "And then the next thing that happened to me is you show up and here I am walking through the woods with you."
Itachi continued to walk forward. "This is the way that Shisui and I used to sneak through to get to the Nakano River," he looked back at Sasuke. "You didn't honestly think that there was only one way to get to the river's edge."
Sasuke closed his eyes as they continued to walk. Water techniques, he had seen Kakashi do them from time to time. That didn't explain how Itachi knew them. Did he go to the Land of Waves too? Itachi seemed to know everything that Kakashi did, that's what made him a better, more skilled ninja.
They finally reached it the river's edge. Sasuke looked at the water; this was going to be his weapon for the time being. The water was going to be his sword and shield. Looking at the look on Itachi's face, this was going to be a lot more difficult than all of the fire techniques that they had mastered.
"Water is more malleable than fire, fire jutsu are created by inhaling chakra and exhaling it quickly. This is different; the chakra that you exude goes through the water and bent into almost deadly attack," Itachi took a deep breath moving his hands to extend in front of him. He started to make hand signs at a slightly slower speed than usual so that Sasuke could see them, his eyes focused on the water. "Water Style: Water Fang Bullet."
Sasuke looked at the water starting to ripple, three water spikes came into the middle of the circle, water splashing from the attack. He could feel the water splash up against his face as the final blow came.
"Amazing," Sasuke breathed wiping the water off of his chin. "What other water techniques do you know?" he looked over at him happily. "Do you know how to make a water clone?"
Itachi sighed as he looked straight at the water and then back at him. "Sasuke, this element is a lot more difficult than fire. You have to work hard at it, just like you have to with all of my other techniques. I know that you've been working on some. Are you still trying to figure out to do the clone technique?"
Sasuke nodded. "I'm going to get that justu down, even if it kills me."
"Good, I see you having potential in that technique," Itachi answered looking back at the water of the Nakano River. I never thought that Sasuke would have such profusion in chakra. He might no be perfect, but he can control it so thoroughly that medical ninjutsu is simple. He's also got a great hold on using that dagger, I can tell by all of our other training exercises. Sasuke has matured in ways that no one thought he would and it was all thanks to me.
Sasuke looked at the water and then up at Itachi. "I want you to teach me more," he ran a hand through the liquid. "How much sunlight do we have left?"
"You don't need sunlight to do water style," the older Uchiha stated. "We can stay out here all night…" he ran a hand through his ponytail a smirk gracing his lips. "Sasuke, I told you that I was going to get you stronger than Kakashi ever would. I'm going to make that a reality. I'm going to make you stronger than you ever thought you would be."
Sasuke stood up looking back at his brother. "Your call, Itachi…"
A sigh passed Itachi's lips as he opened his eyes looking down at the sun reflecting off of the water. Everything that he hoped would happen was here. All of the pain that he had gone through all of the years couldn't be matched by anyone but this boy. This was the moment that they had been waiting for the moment where Sasuke's potential would be unleashed.
"Now…" Itachi breathed starting to make hand signs. "We begin the water mastery training right now."
-----
Kabuto looked around at the fallen trees, gripping at his blood soaked arm. Sakura had proven her worth more than he ever thought that she would. The strength of her attacks, the murderous intent deep within her eyes as she darted at him. She was the only one who was going to make this whole plan work out.
The Akatsuki is going to be pleased that I'm going to be taking care of their loose ends. They might even let me keep my life, he looked down at Sakura. The hate in this girl's heart, the way that her eyes burn as Itachi's name is spoken, she's even more embittered toward him than Sasuke himself. He crouched next to her running a hand through her pink hair, she was worn out her body was limp up against the ground. She didn't give up for second, absolute perfection.
He had to take her back to the Sound Village. There was promise within her, accompanied by a strong hate for Konoha as well as Itachi Uchiha, everything that someone on their side was going to need to win. Sasuke Uchiha no longer mattered; he was too far gone to bring him over to Orochimaru.
Sakura Haruno would be a great follower, her medical ninjutsu techniques would never be able to beat out the techniques of the sharingan, the Uchiha clan's kekkei genkai, but it was going to have to do. All of that clan was dead, Itachi had killed them all off, except Sasuke, but he was under that man's wing. The next time Kabuto would see him; there was no telling how strong he had become.
He looked deeper at her neck smiling as he imagined what Orochimaru would do after he heard how much progress she had made. He never got to sink his teeth into Sasuke, but now he would get the next best thing. He would have to give up his dreams of the sharingan. Kabuto knew it was impossible. Sasuke was out of reach.
He heard her start to come to as he held onto her lifting her body off of the ground. "Kabuto? Is that you? Where are you taking me?"
"I'm taking you back to the inn," he answered, holding onto her tighter continuing to walk. "We're not going to risk you getting hurt before we take Naruto and run to the Sound Village. No matter who they bring, if it's the two of them, or just Itachi. No matter what Sakura we cannot afford to fail. I put too much on this mission to lose it all now. We need to rest up if we're going to get anything done."
Sakura looked into his eyes. "Kabuto," she took a deep breath. "Is there anyway that I can save my teammates before it gets to be too late?"
"Naruto will be saved," Kabuto answered. "I can't make any promises about Sasuke. But you have to stop thinking about all of that; you have to start thinking ahead to the future that we're working so hard to protect. Lord Orochimaru can make all of your dreams come true…"
He smiled as he looked down at her. This could be the next potential container that Lord Orochimaru wants to have. She hates and has a hunger for power to destroy the one that had wronged her friends. If I can augment that the next time we meet Itachi, there is not telling what she can do. Looks like you're going to help us again Itachi, something that you were always good at. Only this time you aren't going to have that lucky streak of yours on your side. I'm going to win.
Sakura smiled as she looked up at him. "We'll continue later on. We're going to win this all, Kabuto," she closed her eyes her smile broadening. "I'm most definitely going to get Sasuke back…"
"I know you will," Kabuto answered. That is, if we can still get to him. If we can, there's no telling his strength. Itachi is a strong influence too strong for us to fight. He continued to walk forward. But at least I have Sakura as a peace offering.
-----
She held on tightly to the forehead protector looking out the window, sitting on Naruto's bed. Nothing was going the way that she wanted it to go. They had just become friends again; it seemed like only yesterday when Sakura was hugging her in the hospital waiting room when she heard about what happened to Asuma. That was changed the second that Sakura started to go missing. Now she was gone.
"Sakura," she breathed as she tightened her grip on the forehead protector, a tear falling from her eye. She was never one to cry, she was never one to let all of her emotions out so readily, she wasn't like Sakura.
"You think that you can stop me? You accepted the fact that this village is going to live in fear. You don't know my pain, you don't know what it's like to lose both of your teammates and no matter how far you reach for them they'll never come back to you."
She curled up tighter as she thought about it. Sakura was the one that she thought she could do anything around and never seem like she was unintelligent. She thought that she was the one that Sakura had aspired to be like. They were best friends only splitting up because of a boy, a boy that she knew liked neither of them.
The door opened as she looked over in the corner of the room. "Hey," it was Shikamaru. "You want to come out with us? We got Naruto to finally leave this dump and go out to the real world," he looked at the tears that were streaming down her face. "Are you alright? You're crying."
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm not crying, Shikamaru," she looked down at the forehead protector. "I was just thinking…"
He sat in front of her looking into her eyes. "Ino," he took a deep breath. "I know that you're upset that the Hokage won't let us go after her, even if we did have jounin. There was one who offered to take us, Kakashi Hatake said that he would, but given his condition… he's in rough shape. I heard from Gai that he has trouble even breathing. I think it was valiant of him though. He was going to risk his life to bring Sakura back to Konoha."
Ino looked out the window, taking a deep breath. "Shikamaru," she started, looking over at him. "I wonder that if I was a better friend to her to begin with if she wouldn't have left. Is it my fault that she's doing this? This isn't like her, forehead girl doesn't take risks, I'm the one who takes the risks."
"These are the days when everyone hurts," Shikamaru answered, looking into her eyes. "Only a few days before he got injured, I talked to Asuma-sensei. He told me that I was going to make it, that I was going to be able to go on with you and Chouji and lead this team to prosperity," he closed his own dark eyes, trying to fight a tear that was starting to roll down his cheek. "All of this time before all of the madness happened… in the hospital I was trying to act like it didn't bother me, like I could be a strong ninja," he took a deep breath. "Now I understand just how insignificant we are, and it's a pain in my ass. All we wanted was to restore honor to our team…"
"Shikamaru," Ino soothed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We're going to get the power that we need back. We're going to amount to something no matter how hard we have to try to do it. We're going to have our turn to shine even if no one takes this team seriously."
He shook his head as he looked down at the forehead protector. "We're running out of time. While we sit here thinking of what to do next, the whole village is in an uproar. Are you sure that you can't get in touch with Sasuke?"
She shook her head. "No one can," she looked up at him. "You don't think that he went after her do you?"
"Obsession will be your downfall, the more that you feel that you want something that is unfeasible the more your judgment becomes clouded, it's a trial by fire that makes us all finally realize what we are destined to have."
"Shikamaru, do you think that Sasuke would do something like that?" she asked. "He told me once that the more someone wants something, the more judgment gets clouded. Obsession isn't going to help him."
"You think he's obsessed with saving her?" Shikamaru asked. "He already has a goal, a goal that he has been trying to fulfill for years now. He's not going to put that on hold to save some girl that he doesn't even care about."
Ino closed her eyes as she faced the window. She thought about all that Sakura had been hiding from her. The girl that she thought was her friend back talked to the enemy behind her, the man whose blade ran through her sensei's body. Sakura hid that she knew Itachi, she hid that she tried to heal the wounds that Sasuke had given him. Now she was running off with a man who was not him, someone who clearly opposed him.
"Where is Naruto now?" Ino asked, looking over at Shikamaru.
"We dropped him off with Iruka-sensei for a while," he answered. "He's going to stay there for a while. Iruka-sensei was more than welcome to take care of him for the time being. It was a nice reunion between the two of them. Chouji decided to stay to help him settle in for the night. I came back to see if you're going to be alright…"
She looked up at him. "That's very sweet of you, Shikamaru," rested her back on the bed, pushing her ponytail off of her shoulder. "So are we going to be taking care of Naruto's place while he's gone?"
Shikamaru nodded as he lay next to her. "Yeah, we're going to be here all night all alone," he closed his eyes. "But I'm beat; I think I'm going to hit the hay. How about you?"
She nodded moving closer to him. "Yeah," a sigh passed her lips. "Thank you, Shikamaru; I'm glad that I can still count on someone in this village. I'm just glad it's one of my teammates…" she looked up into his eyes. "I'll look for Sasuke tomorrow. What are you going to do?"
"I'll probably go see Asuma. He's getting out soon," Shikamaru answered softly. "I also have some questions about any person that Sakura might have left with. If you can get Sasuke, you can get him to go in and ask Kakashi the same question. We can get Sakura back in no time at all."
Ino smiled. Everything's going my way, I can still save her.
-----
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet," Sasuke breathed. The sun was starting to fall from the sky, the day leaving them quickly. He had been trying water techniques all day. Itachi was right, they did deplete chakra. Without Itachi right behind him, he would have given up right now. Everything that Sasuke wanted to be was back there. He wanted Itachi's skills; he wanted everything that made Itachi amazing. He wanted to be like him, he wanted that level of power.
As the water splashed in his face, he fell to his knees taking deep heavy breaths looking back at Sasuke. "I can't do it anymore, Itachi," he coughed lightly. "I don't think any normal human could."
Itachi sighed, walking over to him placing a hand on his head. "You did an amazing job today, Sasuke. If you put that much into it everyday there's no telling how strong you're going to get…"
Sasuke felt as the fingers weaved through his hair. "Do I have to do that every single day? I don't think I'm going to last much longer if I do. I get the feeling that you aren't trying to train me, you're trying to kill me."
"No," Itachi answered lightly. "I have no reason to kill you, Sasuke. I just think that you're behind in training. If just goes to show you I should have spent more time when we were young helping you. Look at what I've made you become."
Sasuke closed his eyes as he thought about everything. He knew why Itachi was giving him this power. Vengeance, Itachi was helping him avenge that damned clan. He was teaching how to be powerful so one day they could face each other fairly in a battle. Itachi lived solely for Sasuke's dream.
"Whatever you do, remember the pain that I have given you and then see if your dream is worth it."
No matter how much he told him to give up, it was only to fuel him. Why? Why was Itachi doing this? He didn't care about what happened to him. That's why the day in the woods he would have taken a hit for him. He had wanted to die for the longest time. That was his purpose for living.
"You did well, Sasuke," Itachi repeated as he took his hand away. "Tomorrow we'll work more on your medical ninjutsu. You seem to be a natural at it. I never thought you'd be this good already. Anyway," he took a deep breath pulling Sasuke up from the ground, "we have a lot of work ahead of us."
"Us?" Sasuke asked, looking at his brother. "You're already perfect; you don't need to work any harder to improve yourself, Itachi."
"I know," the older ninja answered. "But you don't expect to get better without me helping you along the way," he chuckled lightly, "do you?"
He's laughing because he feels his end is closer. He makes me sick. Death over sticking up for himself, Sasuke looked at the water. You're worth more than that, Itachi; you're worth more than a dying ember.
He moved to hug his brother tightly, burying his face in his chest. He tightened his arms around him tightly, trying to conceal the tears that were starting to fall from his eyes. All of this time, Itachi had been trying to destroy himself; he had been nothing but a pawn in this game.
"Sasuke?" Itachi asked, looking down at his brother. "Are you alright?" he felt wetness on his shirt. "You're crying, Sasuke," held onto him, returning the embrace. "What's wrong? I haven't seen you get like this since you were a child."
Sasuke closed his eyes hugging him tightly. "Itachi… brother…"
"I'll take you home," Itachi answered, taking his hand starting to take him through the woods. "You're going to get some sleep tonight."
Feeling his brother's hand trembling against his Sasuke took a deep breath. Maybe he is different than that Itachi I saw that night. I guess only time will tell me what my brother is really like.
"Itachi…"
Author's Note: This is the last chapters that have nothing to do with the real storyline, now it's the countdown to the end (I think we have like fourteen more chapters...). With that said, you all know that it is almost over, my goal is to have it done by July 23rd (Sasuke's birthday) I would also like to wish Itachi a happy birthday tomorrow on June 9th. Anyway what did you all think? Good? Bad? Still waiting for answers for your millions of questions? Honesty is always my policy.